The $2.6 billion price tag is not just for the rover, it includes R&D for the rover itself, employee salaries, Sky Crane & parachute R&D as well as the rocket t

The $2.6 billion price tag is not just for the rover, it includes R&D for the rover itself, employee salaries, Sky Crane & parachute R&D as well as the rocket to launch it, which cost over $100 million. Also included in the budget is funding needed for all of the science teams to do what they do over the next few years while the rover does experiments.